A Northeast risk pool covering 11 transit agencies and 64 municipalities wrote off many fleet claims whenever its own driver shared any fault. Ishqkala swept 36 months of closed files on contingency, applied the state's comparative fault rule file by file and found 310 actionable recoveries worth $3.1M. Within a year, $1.7M had returned to pool surplus.
The challenge
Nine claims staff and one recovery coordinator handled every member loss, from bus sideswipes to snowplow damage. When the pool's driver carried any share of fault, files were usually closed without a demand, even though the state's comparative fault rule allows a reduced recovery when the member's driver is less at fault than the other party. Onboard camera video, the best evidence on most bus claims, is overwritten on a rolling cycle unless someone saves it.
Public entities added a second clock. When the other vehicle belonged to a county, a town or a school district, the state's 90-day notice-of-claim rule applied, and a missed notice could end the claim long before the limitation period ran. The pool tracked those dates on a spreadsheet, when it tracked them at all.
The approach
- 1
Contingency sweep
The pool chose contingency for the closed-claim sweep so the board carried no upfront cost. Its hosted RMIS delivered 9,700 closed files from 36 months by SFTP, including incident reports, police reports and repair invoices.
- 2
Fault rule applied per file
The Liability Reasoning Engine estimated each fault split and applied the state's comparative fault rule. 74 files written off for shared fault came back into the queue at a reduced, recoverable share.
- 3
SOL and notice tracking
The SOL Tracking Engine set limitation dates on every file and flagged public-entity adverse parties with their 90-day notice windows. 61 files inside 90 days of SOL expiry were packaged first.
- 4
Packages for the recovery desk and panel counsel
Demand packages bundled police reports, video retention logs, repair invoices and the fault analysis. Insured adverse parties went to their carriers; uninsured drivers went to panel counsel for a pursuit decision.
- 5
Open claims on a per-file fee
For new losses the pool moved to the flat per-analyzed-file fee, which fits its fixed annual budget. Real-Time FNOL Triggers prompt staff to save onboard video and file notices of claim inside the deadline.
“We are a pool, so every dollar we recover goes back to our members through a stronger surplus and steadier contributions. The contingency sweep cost us nothing until money came in, and the $1.7 million it has returned is cash our board can see on the balance sheet.”